The WNBA regular season begins tonight, with eight of the league’s teams squaring off across four matchups.

Indiana Fever vs. Washington Mystics

7 p.m. ET, Facebook

Friday’s season opener marks the return of a healthy Elena Delle Donne to the court. Delle Donne has played just 52 minutes of WNBA basketball since winning a championship with the Mystics in 2019.

She had a great showing in the team’s preseason game against the Lynx, scoring 21 points on 9-for-13 field goal shooting.

Elizabeth Williams has yet to rejoin the team from overseas, leaving room for rookies like Shakira Austin to get some playing time and potentially carve out a significant role later on in the season.

“She’s one of the rare young players who can make an immediate impact on the defensive end of the court,” Mystics coach Mike Thibault said of Austin.

The Fever, meanwhile, will take the court with five rookies, the most of any WNBA team – and four of them could crack the starting lineup. NaLyssa Smith, the No. 2 overall pick, should be one of them.

Los Angeles Sparks vs. Chicago Sky

8 p.m. ET, NBA TV

Liz Cambage will make her LA debut against Candace Parker and the Chicago Sky, who will begin their title defense in the season opener.

Despite losing key player Diamond DeShields, the Sky have kept most of their core together. The team added the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP in Emma Meesseman.

On Friday, though, the team will be without Allie Quigley, who was ruled out for the first game with a knee injury. The decision is precautionary, with Sky head coach James Wade saying the team wants “to make sure we’re very careful with her” and that she’s at 100 percent before returning.

The Sky expect to have her back by their third game, a road matchup against the Minnesota Lynx on May 14.

In addition to Cambage, the Sparks added Jordin Canada and Katie Lou Samuelson from Seattle as well as Chennedy Carter from Atlanta. With better depth and scoring, Cambage expects the Sparks to compete this season, saying that it’ll be a wild summer in the WNBA and that “we’re gonna have a ring at the end of it.” The quest to back up that verbiage begins Friday.

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Las Vegas Aces vs. Phoenix Mercury

10 p.m. ET, NBA TV

The time has arrived for Becky Hammon’s first regular-season game as a WNBA head coach and it could not come in a bigger matchup – a rematch of last year’s conference finals, which the Mercury won 3-2.

Phoenix is expected to contend for the WNBA title after finishing as the runner-up last season. The Mercury have added Diamond DeShields – who was a part of the title-winning opposition – as well as 2021 WNBA scoring leader Tina Charles. Look for the Mercury to come out firing.

The team will be without Brittney Griner, who remains detained in Russia.

The Aces also have some unfinished business this season after finishing first in the West but losing in the conference finals to the Mercury. Despite losing Cambage to the Sparks, A’ja Wilson returns, as well as Dearica Hamby and Riquna Williams. All three will look to factor into Friday night’s game.

“There’s definitely unfinished business,” Williams said. “We’re going to get it done. Some way we’re going to figure it out.”

Minnesota Lynx vs. Seattle Storm

10 p.m. ET, Twitter

The Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm will face off in a clash of titans between Sylvia Fowles and Sue Bird. Both are likely in their final seasons in the WNBA.

Alongside Kayla McBride, Fowles will attempt to fill the hole left by Napheesa Collier, who is expecting her first child later this month. Fowles, the WNBA’s career leader in rebounds and a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, will factor in both offensively and defensively.

The Storm are led by Bird, Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd. Stewart is coming back from foot surgery but has had a strong preseason and looks to be fully healthy in Noelle Quinn’s first full season as head coach.

Neither team has any rookies gracing their rosters and bring significant veteran presence to the court.

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.